A & M Heating & Cooling Service

I called A & M Heating & Cooling Service around 2pm yesterday afternoon after discovering that the air conditioning unit in my River North condo was spitting water out the side onto the floor.
I was a little concerned I might not be able to have my unit serviced the same day due to how late in the day it already was. Those concerns were quickly answered as I was told that «Herman» would be diverted and would be to my place no later than for to assess my issue.
Herman showed up around 3, found my problem, fixed it, gave me a few tips to avoid the problem in the future and was out the door by 3:45!
I was mentally prepared to deal with a huge hassle. I did not have to do that.
A & M and their technician Herman made this problem easy for me.
Lastly…I have a 5 month old Great Dane puppy who typically terrifies most in his path with his shocking size… not Herman! I thought I was going to have a hard time keeping my super curious puppy away while Herman fixed my air conditioner. Herman had no problem with Franklin (my pup) sitting right there with his nose all in the way.
Herman is awesome and this entire experience was painless.
I couldn’t have made a better choice in choosing A & M to fix my problem!

I have been dealing with A&M Heating and Cooling in two homes I have owned in Chicago over the past 14 years. One was a 2,300 rsf condo in River North and the other is single family home in Logan Square. I have had the privilege of working with Luis and Herman on site on numerous occasions for my Rheem gas heaters, Water Heaters, Humidifiers and Condensers. They are extremely knowledgeable and courteous, they show up on time and get the job done. In fact, they were just here yesterday and fixed my water heater, checked all filters, and serviced my 2 heaters.
I have also had the privilege of interacting with Joy, Marci and Al over the phone who are delightful and friendly.
The entire team at A&M are terrific. I would highly recommend their services.

Herman is a great technician and has outstanding ability to figure out what is wrong with your water heater. The customer service is great they treat you like family! Al is a great owner for such a successful business! Will recommend this to friends and defiantly get my future problems fixed through this company!

Kudos to Herman
Herman came to his scheduled appointment 10 minutes early and
worked diligently to fix my HVAC. I had called and was offered a same day
appointment. Very professional staff and efficient. My invoice was sent via
Herman’s IPAD immediately after completion of the service call.

DO NOT PURCHASE A WATER HEATER FROM HERE!
We bought a water heater less than a year ago from A & M and have had nothing but headaches since. When the water heater goes out, the service person RARELY shows up during the window of time that’s promised. The guy tinkers for awhile w/​the thing, and then two days later, it’s out again. (No, it’s not that the pilot light just blew out either.) Now that we’re calling them more frequently b/​c this piece of garbage water heater keeps quitting, they don’t call back after messages are left. Or best of all, we were recently told that they don’t even have our original sale on file? Um hello, we have the receipt.
Don’t waste your time. Pay the extra $$ and go with someone who is more trustworthy.

We have been using A & M for over 10 years to service the two air conditioning and furnace systems in our home. We have had almost all of the A & M staff in our home over the decade plus: Al, the owner and the technical guys– Leo, Luis and Andy. They have seen us through routine maintenance, troubleshooting and replacements.
We have yet to have a bad experience (not that we are complaining!). What we particularly appreciate about A & M:
. They arrive when they say they are going to arrive. No small thing if you both work and have a family schedule.
. Over the years, they have given us great input on our systems… how to extend their life, how long they will last, what is truly, absolutely necessary and what is nice to do but can be delayed.
. They work tirelessly. We recently had a complete and total overhaul of our systems because our son has major allergies. Al, Luis and Leo worked tirelessly (and I mean from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily) to install a very complex, computerized system which includes the standard HVAC functions, a dehumidifier and an air purifier system for the entirety of our four story house. They worked in blinding heat, dust and muggy days to get the job done.
. They leave your house in great shape. They picked up piles of materials and took them to the garbage cans, they sweep the floors from debris, they wiped down the furnance/​HVAC area so that they were dust free.
It has been a pleasure over the years to work with honest, trustworthy, cost conscious professionals.

8÷8÷12 — My update is just a response to the comment from the business. My review contained facts. If a technician is not aware if something may or may not still be under warranty– than I feel the ethical thing to do is say they are not sure rather than telling a customer something is not under warranty. At the end of the day, we all have different struggles and situations-​And what is important is that when you do business with someone you want to feel like you were treated fairly and respectfully– in this case I did not feel like I was.
——
If you want someone who seems nice to play you for a fool then deal with Andy from A&M Heating & Cooling.
My water heater broke down and I dealt with Synergo Services first, but were unable to resolve my issue, which resulted in me scrambling to get my water heater fixed on a Saturday. I had tenants moving in on Sunday and wanted to try getting it fixed for them in time. Andy was able to come fairly quickly on a Saturday. He inspected the water heater and said that the control unit/​gas valve need to be replaced. Andy gave me an estimate of just under $ 800 to order the part and install it. I told him that I spoke to the Rheem (the company that made the water heater) and that they told me that my tank & parts are still under warranty. He told me that i was right my tank is under warranty but not the parts. So i questioned myself and said okay. He then said he would look into how much it would be to do next day shipping as well, and would let me know in case I wanted to rush the part over. I said okay, but was questioning what he said.
I tried calling Rheem on Saturday, but they don’t have weekend hours. So I waited till Monday morning, called them up and guess what– parts are covered under the warranty, even the gas valve/​control unit. And you know what else. next day shipping is free. I even asked for the list price of the part and negotiated rates for current partners/​clients so I could get an idea of how inflated my price estimate from A&M was. So I called A&M and requested that they not order the part and asked for a new quote for installation only. they told me it would take 4 hours to instal a new gas valve and the cost is anticipated to be $ 395. I said okay. but then called around to get other estimates. Everyone else told me that it would be a 1 hour job, possibly less. And if someone were really slow at doing it. maybe an hour and a half. Oh and the stand standard rate per hour seemed to be $ 100, plus or minus $ 10. Needless to say, I told them I wouldn’t be needing their services.
I’m leaving 2 stars instead of one, because he was quick to respond on a Saturday and they were good about returning phone calls. But maybe they were good about returning calls cause they thought I would pay their ridic prices… I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.